Study Desk

The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God]. And still he maintains and holds tightly to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to destroy him without cause."

Satan answered the LORD, "Skin for skin! Yes, a man will give all he has for his life.

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; for they had made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.

So they sat down on the ground with Job for seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

"Let darkness and gloom claim it for their own; Let a cloud settle upon it; Let all that blackens the day terrify it (the day that I was born).

"As for that night, let darkness seize it; Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; Let it not be counted in the number of the months.

"Let the stars of its early dawn be dark; Let the morning wait in vain for the light, Let it not see the eyelids of morning (the day's dawning),

"For now I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept then, I would have been at rest [in death],

With kings and counselors of the earth, Who built up [now desolate] ruins for themselves;

Who wait for death, but it does not come, And dig (search) for death more [diligently] than for hidden treasures,

"For my groaning comes at the sight of my food, And my cries [of despair] are poured out like water.

"For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me, And that of which I am afraid has come upon me.

"The lion perishes for lack of prey, And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

"For anger slays the foolish man, And jealousy kills the simple (naive).

"I have seen the foolish taking root [and outwardly prospering], But I cursed his dwelling immediately [for his destruction was certain].

"The hungry devour his harvest And take it even [when it grows] among the thorns; The trap opens for [his] wealth.

"For affliction does not come forth from the dust, Nor does trouble spring forth from the ground.

"For man is born for trouble, [As naturally] as sparks fly upward.

"As for me, I would seek God and inquire of Him, And I would commit my cause to God;

"For He inflicts pain, but He binds up and gives relief; He wounds, but His hands also heal.